


Solangelo AU Oneshots

by demiboy_demon



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Don’t copy to another site, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2020-10-27 05:37:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 10,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20755202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demiboy_demon/pseuds/demiboy_demon
Summary: Solangelo Stories taking place outside of the canon universe. Currently being moved from another book to this one.





	1. Athena’s Books

Nico sighed as he once again brushed his hair out of his face. He walked over to the cart that held the books he was supposed to be stocking and grabbed another stack. 

He'd been at this for hours. Putting up a pile of books, walking to the cart, drinking more coffee, and starting over again. At least no customers had come in since he'd started. 

'Nico, work at a book shop' they had said. 

'You love books. How hard could it be?' They had said. 

Nico's friends didn't realize that when you work at a bookstore, you aren't reading books. You're stocking shelves and telling kids to get that toy train out of their mouths, it's someone else's turn to play with it. 

You're staying up past 3 a.m., because all your coworkers somehow got tonight off. Why was a bookstore even open at 3 a.m.? It was exhausting.

All of this was running through Nico's head as he guzzled more coffee. At least no one was there to bother him. 

With almost comical timing, Nico heard a bell ring, indicating that someone had just walked in. "Hello? Wow, it's dark in here." 

Nico walked over to the counter and put on a fake smile. 

"Hello, sir. Welcome to Athena Books. How can I help you?" He asked with forced cheeriness. 

"I need the next book. I'm dying." The man said, staring at Nico intensely. 

Nico sighed again. “What do you want?”

“I just finished this book!" He plopped down a large, paperback book. "And I need the next one. Please." 

Nico looked up into the man's pale blue eyes and started to notice how gorgeous he was. His blond shone dimly in the fluorescent light of the book shop. "Okay." Nico said, leading the man back to where the next book would be. 

"Here you go." Nico said. "Mr..."

"Oh. Um, I'm named Will." The man responded. 

"Okay, Will. Here's your book." Nico said. “I need 11.99 and,” Nico swallowed hard and bit the bullet. He hated asking this part. “And your number?”

Will looked taken aback. “My number?” 

“If you don’t want to, that’s okay.” Nico assured him.

“No, I just wasn’t expecting it. I’d totally be up for that. I was actually thinking of asking the same thing.” Will rubbed the back of his neck.

It took Nico a moment to realize that Will didn’t know he was asking for the Athena’s books reward program. He decided not to correct him and just take his number.


	2. Barista

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico gets a mysterious text message

Unknown number: I know you like Ed Sheeran so I got you this. Lol, get it? It’s a pack of cheese. 24 cheesy singles? Because he writes cheesy songs. 

Nico looked at his phone and frowned. The person must have the wrong number, but Nico did appreciate the joke. 

Nico: What? I don't like Ed Sheeran. He looks like Daddy Pig I’m human form and his music is nauseating. Who is this?

After a moment, a response pinged up.

Unknown: I met you at a Starbucks a few months ago. You spelled my name 'Wellyium' but it's Will. I didn't even say 'William' just Will. That was weird. 

Nico frowned again. He did work at a Starbucks, but was this guy a stalker?

Nico: How did you get this number? Also, why do you think I like Sheeran?

Unknown: It was playing in the coffee shop when you made my drink. 

Nico shook his head and messaged Will back. 

Nico: You know I don't pick the playlist, right? I'm an underpaid barista. They don't let us pick the sound track. 

Unknown: Yeah, I guess. But now whenever I hear it I think of you.

Nico realized that Will still hadn’t answered his initial question. 

Nico: That's pretty creepy. You still haven’t answer me. How did you get this number?

Unknown: Your sister (I assume) gave me your number and said 'My brother needs to get out there. You seem wholesome, you got a pumpkin spice latte.' I don't know if that makes me wholesome as much as it makes me basic, but I wasn't going to turn down the number. 

Nico: Let me check with my sister to make sure this is true and you aren't a creep.

Nico entered Will’s name into his phone, then messaged Hazel.  
  
Nico: Did you give a guy my number at Starbucks in October. He says you did. 

Hazel: Yeah....

Nico: Why?

Hazel: It felt like the right thing to do.

Nico laughed. The right thing to do? Was Hazel joking?

Nico: if I had wanted to date him I would've given him my number myself.

Hazel: We both know that's not true. You would have stared at his butt as he walked out and you'd then never have see him again. 

Nico: Um.

Nico: Rude.

Hazel: But true. You should be happy. I got you a boyfriend.

Nico: He's not my boyfriend. We've been talking for ten minutes. 

Hazel: I hear wedding bells!!! Can I be the flower girl? LOL. 

Nico: Shut up.

Nico put Hazel on silent, then messaged Will. 

Nico: Can you send me a pic of your face? I just need to make sure this is for real. 

Will: Gladly! I have a nice face, or so I’ve been told. 

Nico: Great! To be honest, I was a little worried you were my friend Jason catfishing me to get me to go out with some guy. 

Will: No problem. My sister is like that.

Nico: My sister gave you my number, so I relate. She gave my number to other guys, too, but I told her they weren’t my type.

Will: What is your type, then?

Nico: Is it weird if I say tall blond guys with blue eyes and freckles?

Will: So, not to sound conceited, but me, then?

Nico: Don’t get cocky. You just happened to fall into all of the boxes.

Will: Do you want to go out sometime? This Sunday at 3pm? We could meet at the park near Main Street.

Nico: You put a lot of thought into this, huh?

Nico: I'd love to.

Nico put his phone down and smiled. He would have to thank Hazel sometime. He supposed her meddling in his love life wasn’t always bad.


	3. Witch

Nico scanned the shelves of crystals. He wished they were in alphabetical order. What if he needed a crystal that came in multiple colors, huh? Like some jasper? Jasper came in multiple colors. Yellow, red, black and white.... well, that was pretty much it. Maybe jasper wasn't the best example.

Today, Nico wasn't looking for jasper. He was looking for black tourmaline. 

There was a spirit in his house that just wouldn't leave, and Nico didn't have the money to pay a psychic to do what he could do on his own. 

All he needed was some sage, a white candle, and a crystal. Also, he needed more milk, but that was irrelevant to the spirit. He just happened to be out of milk.

Nico stared at the wall of crystals, his eyes scanning the dark rocks for the crystal he required.

"Ack!" He yelled when he fell to the ground, the full weight of another man lying on top of him. "What the fuck?"

"Oh, shit. I am so sorry." The person on top of him groaned, as if he was in pain, too, pushing himself up off the ground. He held a hand out to Nico. Nico accepted and pulled himself up.

"I'm so sorry, man." The man said.

"Yeah, what was that? Do you often go into metaphysical shops and hurl yourself at strangers?"

"I tripped on a cat." The man explained.  
Nico thought about this. The shop was indeed the home of many cats. He wasn't sure if this was a pro or a con to this shop, but at the moment, it was a con. It made a guy fall on him. But, on the other hand, the guy was incredibly attractive.....

"It's fine." Nico said. "I'm Nico. What are you looking for today?"

"I'm Will. Will Solace. I need more candles. I love candles. How about you?"

"Yeah, candles are nice. I need to get black tourmaline. There's a spirit that lives in my room that I need to banish. His name is Enrique."

"Ooh. What kind of things does he do?"

"He pulls my blanket a few inches so my feet get cold."

"How do you know you just aren't kicking up your blanket?"

"Because it's perfectly folded up at my ankles. And once he left a note saying, 'Wash your feet. Ghosts don't like sucking dirty toes.'"

"What the fuck?"

"Yeah. Now you get why I need to banish him."

"Creepy. How do you know his name is Enrique?"

"Whenever I go to the bathroom, I hear heavy breathing and fog appears on my mirror. Then the word 'Enrique' appears on the fog. The worst part is that next to his name, he always draws a penis."

"That's the worst part to you?"

"Don't judge me, man." Nico said, crossing his arms. “It makes me uncomfortable.”

"Sorry. Enrique sounds like a pain. Do..... you need any help cleansing your house?"

"No. This isn't my first rodeo."

"That's what I'm going to say at my second rodeo."

"But I'd love to hang out some other time. Maybe we could take a candle making class together or something."

Will grinned. "That sounds good. Here's my number."


	4. Catfish

Will straightened his tie and walked into the restaurant. The lighting was dim, way too sexy for his taste. If Will had had it his way, they would have met at a Starbucks inside Target. But his internet date didn't want to do that, and he was really cute, so he agreed to meet him here. Plus, he figured as long as they met in a public place, it would be fine.

"Hi. I'm waiting for someone, but I'll have a water, please." Will said as he looked at the menu. He noticed that they had three types of spaghetti. Will didn’t even know that many types of spaghetti existed. He was still contemplating what kind of spaghetti he was going to get a few minutes later, when a man arrived.

"Sorry I'm late." The man said.

"Who are you? Sorry." Will asked. The guy he was meeting, Micheal, looked nothing like this guy. 

"I'm Micheal. Do you not recognize me?" He smiled a smile which was nothing like his profile picture's. 

The picture was of a short, dark haired man next to a 'road work ahead' sign. He had shiny black hair, grey eyes, pale skin, and a tattoo on his wrist. This man was average height, with brown hair, green eyes, and no tattoos. 

‘Dang,’ Will thought, ‘I’ve been catfished.’ 

Michael sat down across from him and started talking.

"So that's how I lost my big toe." He finished his third horrific story of the night. 

Will was currently on a date with a guy who had nine toes and two nipple piercings. He didn’t ask about his nipples, apparently this was just the way he initiated small talk. 

"You know," He continued, "You're really cute."

"Um, thanks." Will contemplated running out for what felt like the fiftieth time. 

"Aren't you glad I'm not him?" He held up his phone, a picture of the guy from his profile on the screen. 

‘Honestly, no,’ Will thought. He opened his mouth to respond when a person appeared at the side of their table, seemingly from nowhere. 

"Why do you have that picture of me?" The man at the side of the table asked. He was, sure enough, the man in the picture. 

"What?" Micheal asked.

"I'm Nico." He said. "And you have a photo of me on your phone. Tell me why or Willwill call the police." 

"Ah!" Micheal laughed. "Hahaha, it's a funny story. I found it online and you're really hot. So I stole your photo so I could go out with good looking people."

"I probably would've still gone out with you, I would just get to skip the extreme distrust I got from being catfished." Will said. 

"Also," Nico's voice raises just slightly, "Why would you take his picture? Not just that it's me, but that you took someone else's photo in general."

After about six minutes of Nico berating Micheal, he got tired and left, leaving Nico and Will alone.

"Ugh. What a jerk." Nico shook his head.   
"But I'm honored that someone so beautiful would go out with fake me." 

"You're handsome and you just made a catfish go away. I'd date real you any day." Will said before he could stop himself. 

"Are you asking me out?" Nico's 'road work ahead' smirk returned. 

Will was about to deny anything when Nico said, "Because, if you are, I'd say yes. Call me." He handed Will his number and walked back to his table to finish his spaghetti in the way-too-sexy lighting.


	5. Changed

‘Okay,’ Nico thought, ‘Just tell him. He's your best friend, it will be fine.’

Nico walked over to Will who was playing on the swing behind his home. 

"Hey, Will?" Nico asked him. 

Will stopped swinging and smiled at him. "Yeah?"

"I need to tell you something."

"What is it? Are you hurt?"

"No, I just..." Nico took another deep breath. "I'm gay. I like boys." 

Will's smile disappeared, replaced by a confused look. "But you're a boy?" 

"Yeah." Nico dragged his foot through the grass. 

"But...." Will eventually said, "That's wrong. No. I can't be your friend. Go home."

"Will, I-" Nico almost started crying from the humiliation. ‘Oh, no. I'm going to cry in front of him.’ He thought. 

"Go home, Nico." Will walked back inside his house and calls upstairs to his mom, no doubt telling her what a freak Nico was. 

So Nico tried to blink the tears out of his eyes as he walked home.

  
"Fag!" Rose yells at Nico as she throws another pinecone. Will told everyone. He stood next to Rose with his beautiful blue eyes squinting angrily. 

Nico smiled at him, hoping he would chose not to join in on the pinecone attack, but Nico has never had the best luck. 

"Will, please. Please stop." Nico begged. Will doesn’t. Every day, Nico asked him to stop. Every day, he doesn't.  
  
Will moved away. Even though he had been cruel to Nico toward the end, Nico was sad to see him go.

-About Six Years Later-

"Class, today someone is rejoining us. Will Solace." The teacher looked to the room, perhaps expecting some kind of reaction. 

When she got no reaction, she just told Will to find an open seat. 

‘Oh no, why?’ Nico thought when Will sat next to him. ‘There are so many open seats, yet he sits next to me? Why? He hates me. He made that very clear before he left.’

Nico eventually came to the conclusion that either Will had forgotten or simply doesn't care. So he just sat there and did his work, pretending to not notice the pair of gorgeous blue eyes drilling into the back of his head.

"Nico! Nico!" Will shouted to him. He took a moment to contemplate whether or not he should run and hide or just take the pain that was about to be inflicted upon me. He didn't have much time to decide, and Will caught up with him before he knew, this deciding for him. 

"How are you doing?" Will asked cheerfully. "I haven't seen you in so long!" 

‘What? Has he forgotten? Is he just playing with my emotions? What's going on?’ 

"Why do you care?" Nico responded.

Will frowned in confusion. "What? Just because I haven't seen you in years doesn't mean I don't want to be your friend."

"Sure." Nico scoffed, walking toward his locker. Thankfully, it was coming up, and then Will wouldn't have an excuse to follow him. "Torturing a 'faggot' is the best way to get said faggot to like you. Genius, Will. Really. Gold star." 

Nico walked down a random hallway, to get away from him, and Will didn't follow him.

Nico was quick about it. He grabbed his stuff and ran before anyone could catch him. 

Will may have started the bullying (even if he seemingly didn't remember), but it continued after he left. 

Nico grabbed his bag and dashed out the back exit, sprinting the few streets to his house. He didn’t breathe comfortably until he was in his room, door locked, headphones in, sketchpad in hand. This was where he was most at peace. This was where he belongs.

  
Nico woke up to the worst sound in the world. Crazy=Genius by Panic! At the Disco. It used to be one of his favorite songs, so he made it his alarm. Big mistake. Turns out that instead of him hating the mornings less, it just made him hate the song more. Now he couldn’t change it because then he would start hating that song, and he really didn’t need another thing ruined for him.  
  
"And for your history project, each group will write a six page essay on the Great Depression." The teacher said. "It's due by next Monday. Groups are as follows. No arguments." 

She talked for what felt like hours before she finally got to Nico’s name. "Nico Di Angelo and Will Solace." 

Nico sighed, feeling like he should have expected this. It was just his luck.

Nico didn’t wait for his history partner, he just started the project. He figured Will was just going to make it harder. 

He had written two pages by the time Will finally arrived at hishouse, that slow-poke. 

"Hey," Will panted as if he'd just been for a long run. "Sorry I'm late. My mom didn't want me to come." 

He sat next to Nico."What can I do?" 

Nico shook his head. "Nothing, I'm fine." 

Will sighed and lay his head on Nico’s desk, slumping as if he was made of jello. "Come on. I wanna help." He stuck out his lower lip and pouted like a whiny toddler. 

"Shut up, Solace." Nico said. Saying this did not make him stop. 

Nico finally gave him something to research, if only to get rid of him, with his beautiful pouty face and sky blue eyes and- nope. 

"Nico?" Will asked. 

Nico sighed and turned around. "What?" 

Will looked around the bedroom nervously. Nico wanted to work in his living room, but his dad was in there. Nico didn't want to work near him, and he didn’t think his dad would appreciate Will's giggly demeanor. 

"Um," Will said after hesitating for a moment. "What did you mean yesterday?"

"What do you mean?" 

"Well, you said something about torturing gay people? Then you sarcastically called me a genius. And I'm wondering what you meant."

Nico just stared at him for a good two minutes. When he finally spoke, his words are slow and well-calculated. "You don't remember." This is a statement.

Will smiled awkwardly. "Remember what?" 

"When we were young. And I told you I was gay. And you called me a fag. And you told everyone. And you bullied me. And you didn't help me when I was being bullied by others. Are you seriously telling me you remember none of that?" 

Will held his hand up to his cheek as if Nico had just slapped him. "What? No. No. No. I couldn't have. Oh my god." He slammed his head into his hands, shaking his head. After about two minutes of him silently sobbing, he looked to Nico. 

Nico observes that his eyes were still beautiful, even with them filled with tears. 

"Oh my god, Nico. I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea. What the hell is wrong with me? No wonder you hate me!" 

"Will, I don't hate you anymore." The words shocked Nico as he said them. And even more surprisingly, he realized that he meant them. Years of hatred erased with four simple words.

Will felt shocked. Why didn’t Nico hate him? 

He didn’t remember bullying Nico, but he knew Nico wouldn’t lie about it. 

Will had grown up in a pretty homophobic environment, so he supposed it made sense that he had been homophobic. He thought being gay was wrong until about two years before. 

He realized he was bi about a year before that and boy did he hate himself. He thought he was a freak. That's what he grew up hearing. 

Heck, his parents still had a Donald Trump sticker on their car in 2019. His mom had a 'marriage = 1 man +1 woman' shirt. Imagine how they'd react to having a bisexual, gender role crushing son who was in love with his (male) friend.

‘They'd literally kill me. Or at least kick me out of their house.’ Will thought. 

His dad (Will was pretty sure he was bi too, just in denial.) would beat him up and throw him out onto the street. He wasn’t sure if you technically disown a kid where they lived, but he knew that if he came out, he would find out.

Good thing he was safely in the closet, mentally deteriorating from living a lie.

He back to Nico, still not able to meet his eye. "Why?" 

"Why what?" Nico asked. Will thought about painfully and adorably oblivious he was. 

He wished he could take back all the things he said. He wished he could go back in time and smack some sense into little Will. 

"Why are you forgiving me?" Will asked again.

"Because," Nico hesitated for a moment before continuing, “I think you've genuinely changed. You're no longer the mean boy who throws pine ones and rocks, but the boy who... I don't know. Not that, hopefully. I don't know this new, not an asshole Will, but I'd like to." 

Will’s face scrunched up like he was going to start crying again. Nico put a hand on his arm, patting it gently. "Pat pat." Nico said. "Pat pat." 

Will looked up to him and start laughing. "What? Why are you saying 'pat pat?'" 

Nico grimaced and replied, "Those are the comfort words."

Nico had been wrong about how to comfort Will, but he knew he was right about one thing. 

Will had changed. He wasn’t the boy who threw rocks and called names, but the boy who comforted the small child who fell off their bike. The boy that always looked on the bright side. Who cares so deeply that you wonder how anyone could ever be mad at him. Who was always there for Nico from that moment on He was.... well, he was Will.


	6. Cleaning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First person POV of what happens when you watch a scary movie when you think you’re alone.

Nico POV

Here's a pro tip; don't watch scary movies when you're home alone, even if it is eleven a.m. and light outside. 

You'll get scared no matter the time, if the movie's scary enough. And this movie is creepy. It's about this girl who stays home alone for the weekend and her dolls kill her after slowly and mercilessly driving her insane. When her parents come home, their daughter is gone. Her parents are so distraught over losing her, they don't notice the doll. The one that looks exactly like their late child. 

The scariest part is how bad the special effects are. I shovel popcorn into my mouth so I won't scream.

I hear footsteps coming from the hallway outside my bedroom. I know I'm imagining them, but it's still terrifying. 

The footsteps grow louder. Then I hear it. A voice, singing quietly and ominously. I can't make out the words, but I now know I'm not imagining this intruder. 

I stand up and grab the knife I keep near my bed. As I walk to the door, ready to kill the doll before it kills me, my door flings itself open. 

I scream. The man who apparently opened the door also screams. 

I stop screaming as soon as I realize he's a human, not a murderous porcelain doll. I still keep holding my knife, though. Can't be too safe.

He stops screaming, too, after a moment. He takes many deep breaths and tries to compose himself. "Hi," He says, somehow calm after only a moment. "I'm Will. And you are?" 

"I'm Nico." I respond wearily, "Why are you in my house?" 

Will smiles proudly. "I'm your cleaning lady! Your sister hired me. Well, I assume she was your sister. So I- Oh my god is that The Midnight Nightmare? I love that movie!" 

He abandons his vacuum cleaner and jumps onto my bed to watch the movie. 

Maybe I should be concerned. But when a hot guy wants to watch a movie with you, you don't complain.  


"Hey, Nico, I'm ho- what's going on here?" Hazel asks as she walks through the front door of the apartment we share.

I understand why she looks shocked and upset. I would be upset, too, if I had hired a guy to clean my home and then come back to a house that's even messier than when I left. 

Will and I got scared and threw salt everywhere. Demons and dolls can't get you if you're covered in salt. 

"Oh, um," Will says from atop the kitchen counter, "I'm Will, your cleaning lady, and I got scared. You're Hazel, right? Please don't tell my boss." 

Hazel frowns and furrows her eyebrows. She takes a deep breath and walks to her room, leaving footprints in the salt. 

I look to Will. "Wanna watch the sequel?"


	7. Coffee

Nico pulled to the curb and put some coins into the meter before beginning the short walk to the cafe. 

‘That cute barista, Will should be there,’ Nico thought, ‘He's usually working on Monday.’

A young girl pointed at Nico and asked her mom why there was a vampire out during the day, which made Nico smile. Kids say the cutest things. 

“Momma, why’s there a vampire outside during the morning?” The girl asked.

Her mother scolded her and told her to look away. 

Nico shook his head. A short goth guy walking to get a vanilla latte. Oh, God, the horror. How dare he do that? Look away, children, before you catch the gay.

Nico reached the coffee shop. He walked over to the counter where Will was standing. 

"Hey, Deathboy!" Will said cheerily. He was the only person who Nico let call him that. He used to try to make him stop, but that didn’t work, and now it was their thing. 

Nico had tried to give Will a nickname back, but instead of being annoyed, Will found it charming, so it backfired. 

"Hi, Sunshine." Nico replied. “Can I have my usual?” 

"We're out of vanilla syrup, sorry.”

Nico shrugged. “It’s fine. I’ll just get something else.”

“Great! What can I get you?”

“Surprise me.”

Will stood there for a second, thinking about what he thought Nico would like. After a moment, he snapped his fingers. “I know, I'll make a coffee that's just like you!"

Nico stared at him. ‘Is he insulting me?’ He wondered. He thought Will actually liked him. 

"Let me guess,” Nico stopped him. “Bitter? Dark? Not up to social standards?" 

Will took a step back in surprise. “Woah. I was gonna say sweet." 

“Oh.” Nico said, beginning to blush. “Oops.” 

“Do you really think of yourself that way? Like you’re bitter and dark and not up to social standards?”

"Uhh... Yeah?" Nico answered, growing more flustered by the moment. 

Will handed him his coffee. "You can call me if you ever want to talk. My number's on the cup."

"You want me to call you?" 

“No pressure or anything. But if you need someone to talk to or someone to buy you dinner or something you could give me a call and I could help maybe?" 

Will winked before adding the last bit, “After all, I like my men like I like my coffee. Short and super hot.”


	8. Demon

Will POV

I could hardly believe it. I was too tired for this crap. First, I had to cover Kayla's shift, which isn't too bad on its own, but I had just worked for way longer than is healthy.  
I had three essays to write before the weekend, and my computer was broken. 

And now this.

I walked into my bathroom, ready to take a shower and try to calm down so I could get stressed again tomorrow, but what I saw did not calm me down. Written in blood on the mirror was 'I'M WATCHING YOU.' 

So I did what any reasonable person in my situation would do. I got a dry erase marker and wrote back. 'What?' Then I took a shower. 

I was a poor college student, I didn't have the money for an exorcist. Fight me.

The next day, I had completely forgotten about the whole ordeal. Again, fight me. I went to clean my bathroom because I'm a sophisticated adult. 

Okay, fine. Who am I kidding? My half-brother was visiting and he was kinda judgmental. If I had one dirty dish in my bedroom or one spider under my sink, he'd be all 'Oh, Will. Do you never clean your house? Were you raised in a barn?' I would respond yes, I lived on a farm for a few years before he was born, and he would roll his eyes and clean my stuff. 

I mean, yeah, him cleaning my stuff was nice, but he always held it over my head afterward. I would say something along the lines of, "Austin? Could you please get the door? I think my neighbor's cat had gotten out again." And he'd say something like, "Sure. I do everything else, why not?" And it really got on my nerves. 

So just imagine what he would say about a bathroom that hadn't been cleaned since the last time he came here. So, maybe a year ago? My house was a mess.

I walked into my bathroom and, surprise surprise, there was blood on my mirror. This time it said 'You heard me.' 

I was confused by this for a moment because, like I said, I had forgotten about the blood. I wrote back 'Yeah. I heard you (or saw? Can demons talk?) what I'm asking is what you mean.'

The weekend with my brother went pretty well. It wasn't that interesting. But the rest of what happened is, so I'm going to skip ahead. 

The day after Austin left, there was more writing on the wall. 'I don't have time to explain it to mortals like you.' 

I was getting kind of tired of this demon's crap. So I wrote back 'First, you could just explain once, I could take a pic, and we'd be done with this whole unpleasant experience.' 

The demon didn't respond. It seemed to me that it was avoiding me. Not that I was complaining. It was creepy, but the lack of notes felt odd. 

On the last day of class for the semester, I got out of bed and went to the bathroom. In the bathroom, on the mirror was another message in blood. 

'You have an dentist appointment today at 5:37 pm.'

Hmmm. So the demon was helpful. I wrote back in gratitude, 'Thanks! But stop writing in blood. Use a dry erase marker. Stop killing innocent chickens.'

It did not stop killing innocent chickens. I arrived home from the dentist to another note. 'Why? How is this any differently than those chicken nuggets you're always eating?' 

'Because,' I wrote, 'I don't have to acknowledge that they used to be alive. It's called living in denial.' I wished the demon would just appear in person so I could tell it to leave.

My wish came true. I was about to go to sleep. That would not be possible. A man who looked about my age was sitting at the bottom of my bed, his head resting in his hand. He looked like a vampire. I mean, not to be cliche, but he had pale skin and dark hair. 

"Ugh. Why?" He complained. I, the eloquent man that I was, screamed. I could handle bloody mirrors. I could handle my apartment being haunted. I could handle an extremely hot guy in my room. What I could not handle was that the hot guy just appeared there! 

"Dude. Chill." The boy spoke. "You're the one who summoned me. Don't be weird about it."

"Wait......" I was perplexed. "You're the demon?" 

He repeated what I said in a mocking voice. Rude. "Uh, obviously. You wrote a letter to me, and then you left half a pizza out on your counter, thus summoning me. So I ate your pizza, thinking it was an offering, and came here." 

I just stared at him. 

"Also," He said, clearly upset that I hadn't summoned him on purpose, "I have a name. It's Nico."


	9. Drunk

Nico POV

Will doesn't usually drink. But the night he did, I had been crushing on him for a while, almost a year. 

Some guy had given him some lemonade mixed with absinthe, and Will had gotten drunk. 

He started hitting on me, his words slurred slightly. I didn't think much of it, other than he might've actually been into me. 

"Hey, baby. You are a moon. Because your stars and stuff."

"Will? That makes absolutely no sense. Are you drunk?"

"I want to kiss you. I'm in love with you. I know! Let's get married! We'll move to Alaska and have sixteen kids. What could go wrong?"

"Come on, Will. I'm taking you back to my house. You are going to sleep." 

I would've taken him to his own house, but if his parents found out he was drinking (even if it wasn't on purpose) they'd get really mad, and Will’s mom was scary. 

But Will had spent the night at my house before, and both of our parents said he could sleep over whenever he wanted to, as long as he told them where he is. 

I logged into his phone and texted his parents, pretending to be him.

Will: I'm going to spend the night at Nico's house. He says I can use his toothpaste, so my teeth will be fine.  
Mom: Okay. Have fun.  
Mom: But not too much fun, Will.  
Will: LOL. Don't worry. :-)

Will's dad is a doctor, and he gets really upset if Will forgets to brush his teeth. 

And I knew for a fact that Will loved abbreviations and emoticons. I was like "Will, emojis exist." And he would respond with "Nothing can replace the original winky face. The sheer cringe of a smiley face with a nose."

Not to brag, but I was really good at pretending to be Will.

We got to my house and went up to my room. I was careful to not alert my sisters that we were back. Bianca would tell Will's parents he was drunk, and Hazel would be scandalized. 

He stumbled into my room and took off his shirt. "Let's do this!" I stared at him.

"No, Will. You are drunk.”

“But I don’t drink!”

“Some guy gave you alcohol without you noticing.”

“My bad. Can we make out now?”

“No.” I put him in my bed and slept in my sleeping bag. I hate camping. I don't mind sleeping in a sleeping bad, I just hate camping. Ugh. Bugs.

"OH MY GOD!" I heard Will scream. "What happened last night? Oh god, what did I say? Am I in Nico's bed? Why am I in Nico's bed?" 

I stood up. "Will. It's fine. Some douchebag gave you some alcohol last night, you got drunk, and I brought you here. Nothing happened. I told your parents you were sleeping over." 

He nodded. "Why am I not wearing a shirt? Oh god, did we sleep together?" 

"No. I didn't rape you, Will. You just flirted with me and took off your shirt. I shoved you into my bed. And we slept in separate sections of the room."

Will nodded. "Thank god." 

Realization hit his face. "I flirted with you? I'm so sorry. You must think I’m gross. I should leave, thank you so much." 

"Will. Stop. I don't find you gross at all. Actually.... I like you, too. No pressure though. If you were simply drunk and weren't thinking right, I don't want to pressure you into anything."

"No.... I do really like you." He spoke hesitantly.

"Good.”


	10. Dumbledore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soulmate AU where the first words you hear your soulmate say is written on your arm from birth

Nico POV

"No shit, Sherlock." Hazel said to her brother as they walked out of the movie theater. 

“I’m just saying,” Nico protested, "Dumbledore shouldn't have died. Don't get me wrong, I read the books. I knew it was coming, but still; I can't believe Dumbledore died!" 

As soon as he finished his rant, he heard a scream. 

It was coming from a good looking man who seemed to be with his sister. "You! You absolute asshole! You've ruined this entire series for me! People were like, 'oh Will, I'm so sorry! Do you have a family member named Dumbledore?' And then the Harry Potter franchise got more popular and I got into because I'm a basic bitch! And from the very beginning I knew Dumbledore would die!"

The guy, Will pulled up his sleeve to reveal my words on his wrist. 

Most people cover their words so no one can trick them into thinking they're their soulmate. 

Nico covered his with long sleeves, and it seems like Will did the same. 

Nico looked to him and said coldly, pushing his sleeve up to show him his words. "Imagine having that whole paragraph printed on you."


	11. Edmund

Will POV

Being a single parent is hard. Every morning I go to work, then I come home and do college classes online. All while taking care of my beautiful child. I love her more than I love life itself, but she can be a lot.

"Edmund, how was your day?" I ask. 

She doesn't respond. She never responds. I wish she would, but she doesn't, she just walks away. And once again, I am alone.

I lay in bed contemplating life. I try to sleep, knowing I have to wake up early tomorrow, but I can't. Edmund is at the bottom of my bed, humming in her sleep. I think about the day I adopted her. I think about the day I found out she was allergic to cheese.

It had been a long day. I was really looking forward to eating a grilled cheese sandwich and watching The Housewives of South Dakota. I made my sandwich, fed my child, and went to set up the show. I walked back to the kitchen, slightly ashamed of my entertainment choice, when I saw Edmund lying on the floor. 

"Edmund, you're so silly." I had said, thinking she was being lazy. 

"Edmund?" I went into doctor mode, checking for a pulse. It was there, but she was barely breathing, so I had rushed her to the hospital. She ended up being fine after a day or two. But now my house is a cheese free zone.

I fall asleep, dreaming of cheese, housewives, and the day I adopted Edmund. 

I was at a grilled cheese festival. She was lying on the ground, covered in nacho cheese, next to a giant Aaron Burr statue made of cheese. 

The statue reminded me that this was a dream, because in real life, the statue was much smaller, and it depicted George Washington. It didn't depict him well, and I'm pretty sure it was just a slightly melted lump of cheese that someone had mislabeled. 

It really shouldn't be that hard to figure out which cheese blob was supposed to be George Washington. None of the blobs of cheese looked like George Washington.

Edmund had been lying on the ground next to the cheese lump. What kind of sicko leaves a baby alone in a parking lot? 

I picked her up and brought her with me to my car. She was so sleepy and cute. I drove her to the police station and told them what happened. 

"This really isn't police stuff." They had said. Disgusting. So I took responsibility and raised Edmund as my own.  


I tie my tie and say bye to Edmund. I'm going on a date tonight, because, like I said, it's hard being a single parent.

"Hi." I say. "I'm Will."

"Hey, I'm Nico." He replies. 

We just sit there for a few minutes, enveloped in silence before I panic and start telling my story. Soon, Nico is staring at me while I eat my cheese quesadilla. 

"And that's why I always order cheesy food, but I never bring home leftovers."

"Hm." Nico nods. "I wasn't wondering, but I'm really glad you told that story." 

"Do you have any stories about your life?" I ask, wanting to know more about Nico. 

"I do, actually," He says before launching into a story of his own.  


"Wait, Will." Nico says, hours later, back at my apartment. 

"What's wrong?" I ask, "Do you not want to do this anymore?"

"No, I do. But... won't we wake Edmund?" 

"Probably not. She's always awake at night anyway. She's more of a nighttime cat."


	12. Eyeliner

Nico POV

"Damn, boy. Are you my eyeliner? Because you are really pretty but I'm almost positive I'm going to mess this up!" I say. 

The pickup line sounded way better in my head. 

Hazel forced me to be here. She said that I 'need to get a boyfriend and life my hecking life.' So of course she would take me to a gay club. 

Then, being Hazel, she freaked out about all of the sparsely dressed guys flirting with each other. 

She thought this was a place where gay people of all ages went to dance and talk about our collective queer experiences. She was thinking of a Pflag meeting, if you danced at those. I've never been to a dancing Pflag.

But she's Hazel. She's the girl who wants bought in adult party game thinking it was just meant for those who had outgrown CandyLand. She's the one who forced me to to a gay club and told me to flirt with cute guy here. And I blew the pick up line. 

Whatever. It's not like he'd say yes anyway. He's way out of my league. He's tall and freckley, slightly muscular, with pale blue eyes and wavy blond hair. 

But to my surprise, he responds. "Hey. You look a lot like my next boyfriend. Do you know him?"

"I might. I do if it's me and you're flirting back, but just in case it's not, I'm going to go with maybe." Dammit Nico. Again? Why do I always mess things up? A cute guy was actually flirting with me, but then I had to go and say what I was thinking. 

Ugh. Why do I always do this Time to slink away and try to forget this happened, I think. 

But before I leave, the blond starts laughing. "Um, yeah. I was talking about you." 

He smiles. "My name's Will. And you are?" 

"Nico." I say quickly. I don't want to further mess this up. 

Will doesn't seem to hate me yet. "Oh. Nico. A pretty name for a pretty person." 

I blush. I still can't believe he's flirting back. "Thanks. Um, you're pretty, too." 

Will laughs again. "Thanks, Nico. Can I buy you a drink?"

"Oh. Yeah, um, yes please. I'd like that. Sounds good." 

Why am I this awkward? Will grins at me and we walk to the bar. I order the first thing that comes to my head (I panicked, okay?) and he gets something else. I didn't hear, I was busy wondering what the heck I just ordered. Hopefully something cool.

It was not something cool. I ordered a strawberry margarita with whipped cream. Luckily, Will thinks it's the cutest thing ever. He thinks I'm the cutest thing ever. That’s a first. 

"So, Nico. What do you like to do?" Will asks me. 

"Um." I respond. "Um, I like painting. And reading. And I'm going to graduate in a few years and be a lawyer. You?"

"That's really cool." He says. "I'm in med school, I want to be a doctor. My sister always says she's going to become a doctor before me, and I'm like, Kayla, you're six years younger than me."

"Neat." Ugh. 'Neat.' How embarrassing. 

But I continue. "What are your hobbies?"  
"I do archery. I'm pretty good at it. I like to cook, but I'm not good at it. Did you know you could burn ramen noodles? I wasn't even cooking ramen noodles, they were just in the way of the pizza I was making. Well, trying to make. And they still burned!" 

Thank God. He wasn't completely perfect. I don't want to be with someone who has no flaws. It would be a very one way relationship, since I have so many flaws. 

"I feel you." I said. "I'm also pretty bad at food. I'm actually good at cooking, but as you saw, I suck at ordering. Look at this." I point to my pink and white monstrosity.

  
"OH MY GOODNESS!" I hear Hazel scream. "NICO HAS A BOYFRIEND!" 

Gee, thanks, Hazel. Now the whole street knows. I mean, the music's really loud, so no one probably actually heard her, but still. 

"How dare you make out with someone in a corner without telling me first!" It's true. I was making out with Will in a corner.

"Go away, Hazel." I say. "Who I kiss is none of your business."

"Oh, I think it is." She stomps her foot, reminiscent of a toddler. "I brought you here, and I deserve to take you home, too. I'm not going to let you go to some bar creep's house! You deserve better than any bar guy can give you!" 

Will turns to look at Hazel. "Sorry, are you Hazel?" 

Hazel looks dumbfounded. "Nico. I'll let this boy take you home." 

"Gee. Thanks."

"Because he's so hot."

"Yep. Got it, sis."

"And look at those calves."

"Please leave."

"And tomorrow, tell me if the rest of him is as pretty as the face." 

Welp, she succeeded. I put my face in my hands. "Bye, Neeks!" 

Will grins at me mischievously. "Neeks, huh?" 

I glare at him. "Call me that again and I end you."

"Ugh. Fine. Want to go back to my place?"

"Sure." I say. I'm glad Hazel forced me to come, but I'm not going to tell her that.

"Then let's go, Neeks."

What have I gotten myself into?


	13. Ghosted

Text  
"Okay, guys. Go play!"

Will's students ran off in all directions, jumping into slides and swings and other playground equipment. Will loved being an elementary teacher. He loved his students.

Sometimes it could be hard, if a kid was a dick or if, even worse, their parent was a dick. It was hard when kids needed help and parents denied it. Just because they wanted their kid to be "normal." It made Will feel sick.

But other than that, he loved his job. He loved the kind of things children would say. He had this student who had a really high pitched voice and called the other kids feather-brains. His name was Jordan. He had a group of mean girls who followed him everywhere.

"Come on, girls," He would say. Will found it interesting that cliques could form so early.

"Mr. Solace?" One of his students asked.

"Yes, Avery? Is everything okay?"

"There's a strange man standing over there. He's scaring me."

Will looked over to where she was pointing. In the graveyard next to the school. Will had no idea why they would put a school next to a graveyard. Maybe they wanted to teach the young children about death. Maybe the land there was really cheap. Maybe whoever built the school was supposed to build it somewhere else, and just messed up a little bit on the placement of the building.

Will looked out onto the graveyard. "I don't see anyone. What does he look like?"

"He looks scary."

"Okay, but can you describe him more? Use adjectives."

"He's short and and whiteish and angry and creepy."

Will didn't see anyone. "Are you joking, Avery? I don't see anyone?"

"He's really there! Ugh!" Avery stormed off.

The next day, Will did see something. A man, standing in the place Avery had pointed to yesterday. He was short and pale. And he was definitely creepy.

"Excuse me, sir. What are you doing here?"

The man looked over to him.

"The cemetery is closed on weekdays and you aren't authorized to be by the school. What are you doing?"

The man looked around before raising his eyebrows and pointed to himself in a 'who, me?' kind of way.

"Yeah, you. What are you doing here? I will call the police."

Will blinked, because that's something people do. People blink. That's a fact of life, readers. You have to learn to except this at one point or another.

Will blinked, and the man was gone.

While he would normally never spend a Saturday in a creepy graveyard next to the school, today was not a normal Saturday. Today was a Saturday in which Will would get to the bottom of the mystery. Who was the man standing in the graveyard, watching the children? Maybe he would be there today. Maybe he was only there because he was not allowed to be, as the cemetery with only open on weekends.

Even if the man wasn't there today, Will might be able to find a granola bar wrapper or a soda can that the man may have left behind.

"Can I..... help you?" A voice from behind Will said. He turned around and saw the man. Will was not at all ashamed to admit that he screamed.

"Woah. Calm down, Pill."

"Pill?"

"I died in the twenties. This is the most recent slang I know."

"Died?"

"Is there an echo here? Yes, Mr. Solace. I died. I'm a freaking ghost."

"A ghost?"

"Wow, there really is an echo. Yes, a ghost."

"How did you know my name was Mr. Solace?"

"I've heard your students talk about you.” He said, scanning him with his eyes. “And some of the things you’ve taught them. Like how much the world has progressed since my day.”

"Yeah, the world sure has gotten better. And that's only elementary school level history."

"Horsefeathers. That's great. I wish I could learn more about the world. About how it's changed."

Will didn't expect himself to say anything to this. He certainly didn't expect himself to say what he said. "I could teach you. Can you leave this graveyard? We could go get some ice cream or something and I could tell you all about the world."

The ghost smiled sadly. "I can, but.... are you sure? I don't want to be a bother or an extra responsibility you have to take care of."

"It's no bother. You seem like a nice person. Er, ghost."

"If you're sure.... Then I'd love to."

So far Nico had gotten excited about how many cars there were (he kept calling them automobiles), how much money ice cream costs ($6.75 isn't as much as it used to be), and how you could legally buy liquor at every grocery store.

"If it's easy for you to leave the graveyard, why haven't you left before?"

"How did you know I haven't left?"

"You obviously haven't seen modern civilization in a long time. You screamed when the door opened itself."

"Because it was scary!" Nico waved his arms around frantically. "Doors shouldn't do that!"

"You're a ghost."

"Yes, this has been established. I am a ghost who is afraid of self opening doors."

"I'm going to try not to judge you. But anyway, how did you not leave the cemetery for 90-something years?"

"Didn't have a reason to. I felt like I got enough information through the kid's jabber. So what do you know about how the world has changed?

"Wow." Nico said an hour or two later. "That's..... Wow."

"Yeah. The world has never been a perfect place."

"It's getting better though, I think. People have more rights than they did when I was alive."

"That's true. Did you like your ice cream?"

"It was the berries. Thanks for paying. I would but, ya know, I don’t have money."

"The berries? Didn't you get chocolate?"

"It's the berries is a phrase from the twenties that means it was good. The ice cream was good, thank you for buying it."

"Oh! Great! Well I, um, I think you're the berries."

"Thanks. I think you're the berries, too."

“And you’re sure your friends are okay with me being, like, dead?” Nico asked.

“Yeah. I don’t think they believed me, but they seemed to want to meet you nonetheless.”

Nico sighed. “Fine. I’ll meet them because you’re my friend, but then you have to teach me more about phones.”

Will grabbed his hand and shook it, even though Nico hadn’t been offering a handshake. “Off we go!”

"So, Nico," Percy asked, "What's your favorite meme?"

"What's a meme?"

"Will," Percy turned to Will with a scandalized expression, "Why did you bring a meme-hater into my home?"

"No," Will explained, "He genuinely doesn't know what a meme is. He's the ghost I was telling you about."

"You weren't joking?"

"Did I look like I was joking?"

"Okay, I guess not. So, you're dead? Cool."

"What's a meme?" Nico asked again.

"A meme is, well, a meme." Percy said.

"Not helpful, Percy. Nico, a meme is a joke connected to an image that many people like. I'll pull one up."

Will took his phone from his pocket and typed a command. He held his phone out for Nico to see. "But," Nico said, "Trees don't wear pants."

"That's the meme."

"But they don't wear pants this way or that way. How is this funny?"

"Here's a different one." Will pulled up a different meme.

"Is that supposed to be a frog? Frogs don't look like that."

"His name is Pepe. Here's another. This guy is telling you to perish."

"He's just eyes."

"This is a tide pod. Kids are eating them and dying."

"Why?"

"To be cool."

"I had a friend who swallowed a live goldfish to be cool."

"People did that?" Percy asked, sipping his lemonade.

"Yeah, it was a big trend. Everyone wanted to swallow a fish. A lot of my friends blipped off. My friend Andrew was like, 'I'm going to swallow this fish.' And I told him, 'Andrew, don't be dumb.' And then he swallowed his goldfish and died."

"That's gruesome."

Nico just shrugged. "People have always been dumb."

"Leo, this is Nico."

"Sweet! You're the ghost, right?" Leo asked.

"How many people did you tell?" Nico tugged at Will's sleeve.

"Only three."

Leo led them inside before launching into a story.

"So I wore the shirt even though it was see-through, because even though my girlfriend said it made me look ridiculous, I loved it. She said it made me look like a stripper and I was like 'who knows what I do when you're out of town?' And then she stared off into the distance as if she was evaluating her life choices."

"Wow. That's a wild story. Especially when all I wanted know was where you got your shoes."

"Oh, Target."

Will knocked. "Just so you know, Piper can be a bit much. She asks a lot of questions. Let me know if you need a break."

The door opened. "Oh! Hey! You're Nico, right?"

"Yes." Nico responded.

Piper opened the door wider to let Nico and Will in. "Come on in! Sorry for the mess."

"So, are you really a ghost?" Piper asked, pushing a mound of papers of a chair and into the floor.

"I am a ghost, yes."

"What's it like? You can sit here, by the way."

"Um," Nico said, sitting where the papers used to be. "I don't really know. Fine, I guess."

"Being dead is fine?"

"Applesauce, Piper, I don't know!"

"What are some misconceptions about the twenty's?"

"Um....." Nico said, looking around for answers, as if there would be any found in Piper’s house. "Flappers? There were a lot less than books portray. I’m not really sure. That was almost 100 years ago.”

"Um, Piper, can we slow down a little?" Will asked. No one could hear his request over Piper’s enthusiasm.

Will knew that Nico was easily overwhelmed. Being dead will do that to you.

"What else?" Piper asked over Will.

"Uh, people said the bee's knees. But not as often as they do in old films. Like, it was a phrase, but not that common."

"You've watched movies?"

"Yes. Will showed me some. I really like Small Wonder."

"Piper, Nico's going to get overwhelmed. He hasn't spoken to anyone in over eighty years." Will tried to say. Neither heard him.

"What's Small Wonder?"

"Can we take a break?" Will asked. No one heard him. Why the heck was Piper such a loud talker?

"It's a tv show."

"What happens in the show?"

"I need to take a break. Sorry."

"One more question."

"Actually, I think I need to take a few minutes now."

"What's your favorite thing that's changed?"

"I need a break, please."

"Piper, leave him alone."

Nico got up and walked through the door, into Piper's bathroom.

"He can do that? Walk through walls, I mean?"

"He can only walk through doors, not walls."

"Why?" Piper asked.

"Piper, I get that you're curious. But Nico's overwhelmed. Can you chill?"

"Sure. But I have a question for you."

Will sighed. "Fine."

"Are you into him?"

"No more questions."

Will sat on the couch next to Nico. "What film are we watching tonight?" Nico asked, "Thanks for inviting me over, by the way. I like being in a house instead of a graveyard."

"You can come over whenever you want, Nico." Will handed Nico some popcorn.

"I know, and I appreciate that, but I don't want to bother you more than I already do."

"You could never bother me. I adore you."

"I adore you, too."

"Oh, and tonight we're watching the Princess Bride."

"Westley is hot." Will said.

Nico gasped and looked frightened. "You can't say things like that, Will."

"Say what?"

"Say a man is hot. You're a man, too."

"Men can love men, now. Did you not know that?"

"They can?" Nico asked.

"Absolutely. As long as you aren't related and you're both in the same age range. Some people still get mad, but most people don't care about other people's business."

"So if I carried a torch for a man, you wouldn't hate me?"

"No, of course not! I'll like you no matter what. Who is he? Do I know him?"

Nico shrugged and ate a handful of popcorn. "Kind of."

"Is it Piper?"

"Piper is a woman.”

“Oh, right. Duh.”

"Yeah."

"Is it Percy?"

"Percy's definitely a sheik. Not gonna lie. But no."

"I don't know what that means. Is it Leo?"

"No."

"I don't know anyone else. Unless it's me." Will laughed.

Nico didn't blush, because ghosts don't have blood. Although, if one went by what made sense, Nico wouldn't be able to eat or sleep either. And he did those things.

Nico didn't blush, because ghost don't blush, but if he had been a human, he would have blushed like there was no tomorrow. His entire face would have been pink.

But he was a ghost, so he didn't blush, he just laughed and went back to watching the movie.

‘Oh my god. Nico likes me?’ Will thought. The ghost he liked liked him back. This wasn’t the kind of thing that happened to many people. Although he supposed that most people didn’t have a crush on a ghost to begin with.

‘Oh crap, Will thought, ‘Am I a monster fucker?’

He decided that that was an issue for a later date. Back to the matter at hand.

‘I bet he thinks he's being sly with the 'kind of' and the awkward laughing. He's so fucking cute! I need to properly ask him out. Okay. Deep breath. Here goes nothing.’

"Hey.... Nico." Will said, "Do you want to go get coffee with me tomorrow? I could teach you more about history since you've died. Then maybe we could go on a walk in the park? It would be pretty romantic.”

Nico smiled. "That sounds fun. Are you sure, though? I don't want to waste more of your time."

"Time spent with you is never time wasted."

"Then, sure. I'd love that." Nico turned his head back to the movie.

"These are way too many choices." Nico said, looking up at the coffee board. "What the horsefeathers is a kale-paccino?”

"I'll order for us. Two iced lattes, please," Will said, turning to the barista.

"Then, because of the stonewall riots and other important events, and by having pro-equality people in positions of power, gay marriage was legalized. Questions?"

"So gay people can get married now. Can they also.... like..... um.... kiss? And other stuff?"

"Yes." Will said, "People can kiss in public and do ‘other stuff’ in private."

"Hmm. Okay. Neat." Nico said, looking as if he was trying to appear nonchalant. He took a sip of his latte. "This is really good. Much better than coffee was when I was alive."

A month or two later, Will lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was happier than he knew he could be. He and Nico had been on several dates, each one better than the last. Tonight they were going to bar close to Will's house. Nico hadn't been to a bar before. He was excited.

"Hey, baby," A man said to Nico at the bar, seemingly not noticing Will's arm wrapped around him.

"Hello." Nico responded.

"You come here often?"

"No. This is my first time coming here."

"You're hot."

"You're making me feel uncomfortable."

"Hey." Will said, "Dude. Stop flirting with my boyfriend."

The man rolled his eyes and walked away.  
Nico turned around abruptly. "What? Your boyfriend?"

"Yeah? Do you not me to call you that? I could call you my date mate? Or my significant other."

"Why would you call me any of those things?"

"Because we're a thing? And I like you? I don't really know."

"We're dating?" Nico looked very surprised. "How did I not know about this?"

"Did you not know?" Will was equally confused. "We've been dating for a month now."

"What? Oh my..... oh."

Nico thought back to the coffees and the walks. He thought about the time they went to a cat cafe, and he thought about the sunsets he and Will had watched together.

"Those were dates? Things make much more sense now."

"You didn't know? Oh, god, Nico, I am so sorry. I must have made you so uncomfortable."

"What? Are you joking? This has been the best month of my life, er, death. And that's been because of you. I'm not upset.”

Nico smiled and took Will's hand. "Boyfriends. I like that."


End file.
